▪ I. † list, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 hlyst, 2–4 lust(e, 3–4 list(e, lyst, 4 lest, 4–6 list.
[OE. hlyst masc. and fem. = OS. hlust fem., ON. hlust fem.:—OTeut. *hlusti-z:—OAryan *klusti-s (Skr. {cced}rušti obedience), f. root *klus- (:kleus- :klous-), OTeut. *hlū̆s- (:hleus- :hlaus-), found also in the vbs. OE. hlosnian, OHG. losên (MHG. losen), OHG. lûstrên (mod.Ger. dial. laustern: cf. G. lüstern, Sw. lystra, Da. lystre to ‘answer’ to a name, ‘answer’ the helm), MHG. lûschen (mod.G. lauschen), MHG. lusemen, lüsenen, all meaning ‘to listen’; also, outside Teut., in OSl. slyšati to hear, sluχŭ hearing, Lith. klausà obedience, klaus{yacu}ti to hear, Zend {cced}raosānē to hear, Welsh clûst, Irish cl{uacu}as fem., ear (:—OCeltic *kloustā). The root OAryan *klus-: kleus-: klous- (Teut. *hlū̆s-: hleus-: hlous-) is an extended form of *klu- (Teut. *hlū̆-): see loud a.]
1. Hearing; the sense of hearing. to have or give a list: to give ear, be attentive, keep silence.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 550 Ða fif andᵹitu ure lichaman, ðæt is ᵹesihþ and hylst, swæcc and stenc and hrepung. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 40 Gif [mon] yfelne hlyst hæbbe. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 75 Hore lust hore loking hore blawing hore smelling heore feling wes al iattret. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 61 Gif he binimeð us ure sihte oðer ure liste. c 1205 Lay. 11577 Mi fader Caredoc makede lust & þus spæc. a 1300 Cursor M. 13708 All þai gaf him list ilkan. c 1330 Assump. Virg. (B.M. MS.) 2 Sitteþ stille & haueþ lyst. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xxi. (1495) 238 Thyckenes of luste and of herynge. a 1400 Octouian 60 Fele of hem casted a cry..That noon of hem that sytte hym by May haue no lest. |
2. The ear. (But cf. list n.3 1 b.)
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1900 With ys hond a wolde þe ȝyue a such on on þ⊇ luste þat al þy breyn scholde clyue al aboute ys fuste. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 634 He smoot me ones on the list. a 1535 More Howe a Sergeant would learne to play the frere Wks. {para4} ij b, And with his fist, Upon the lyst, He gaue hym such a blow, That [etc.]. |
▪ II. † list, n.2 Obs.
Also 3–4 liste, 4–5 lyst(e, lest(e.
[Com. Teut.: OE. list str. fem. corresponds to OFris. lest, OS. list art, wisdom (Du. list fem., cunning), OHG., MHG. list masc., wisdom, art, craft (mod.G. list fem., craft, stratagem), ON. list fem., art, skill (Sw., Da. list), Goth. list-s fem., stratagem, wile:—OTeut. *listi-z, f. root *lī̆s- (:lais- in Goth. lais I know): see learn v., lore.]
Art, craft, cunning. Also phr. by list or with list.
| a 900 Cynewulf Christ 1318 Mid hu micle elne æᵹhwylc wille þurh ealle list lifes tiliᵹan. a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 588 (Gr.) Lædde hie swa mid liᵹenum & mid listum speon idese on þæt unriht. c 1205 Lay. 17210 Betere is liste [c 1275 sleahþe] þene ufel strenðe. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1527 Swa þe cnotte is icnut..þæt ne mei hit liste ne luðer strengðe nowðer..leowsin. a 1250 Owl & Night. 172 Ich wolde biȝte bet mid liste, Than thu mid al thine strengthe. a 1275 Prov. ælfred 638 in O.E. Misc. 136 Of him þu miȝt leren listes and fele þeues. 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2046 This was a dede of queint list. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ix. (Bartholomaeus) 322 He crucifyt wes fyrste & [syne] his skyne of flayne with lyste. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 42 We ben bigilid alle wiþ oure lyst. |
▪ III. list, n.3
(lɪst)
Also 4–7 lyst(e, liste, 5 liest, lyyst(e.
[OE. l{iacu}ste wk. fem. = MDu. lijste (Du. lijst), OHG. lîsta (MHG. lîste, mod.G. leiste); the Teut. word was adopted in Rom. as It. lista, F. liste; the ON. lista (ĭ) is prob. from Fr. or ME.]
I. Border, edging, strip.
† 1. a. gen. A border, hem, bordering strip. Obs.
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 583 Lembum, listan vel thres. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1761 Þe myst dryues Þorȝ þe lyst of þe lyfte, bi þe loȝ medoes. 13.. Guy Warw. (1887) p. 464 (MS. A) His targe wiþ gold list He carf atvo. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints vii. (Jacobus Minor) 48 Þai stryfe wald, quha mycht fyrst Of his kirtil nycht þe liste. 1433 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) II. 49 Unam tuellam de twill, cum nigris lystez. 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. Prol. 38 The nycht furthspred hyr cloke with sabill lyst. 1591 G. Fletcher Russe Commw. (Hakl. Soc.) 16 In the very farthest part and list of Europe bordering upon Asia. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xx. §10 [They] haue thought it better to let them [the books of the Apocrypha] stand as a list or marginall border vnto the olde Testament. 1650 Fuller Pisgah i. vi. 15 Trachonitis, the coursest list and most craggy ground about the countrey of Judea. 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exper. 96 The water begins first to congeal at the top round the edges, and from that List of Ice shoots several small Threads to the middle. 1696 Bp. Patrick Comm. Exod. xxv. 11 A Border or List of Gold went round at the Top of it. |
† b. Applied to the lobe of the ear. Obs. [Cf. G. ohrleiste, which, however, means the ‘helix’ of the ear; also list n.1 2.]
| 1530 Palsgr. 239/2 Lyste of the eare, mol de loraylle. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Mol. 1631 Dekker Match me in Lond. ii. 30 They haue giuen it me soundly, I feele it vnder the lists of both eares. |
2. a. spec. The selvage, border, or edge of a cloth, usually of different material from the body of the cloth. † Phrase, within the lists (usual in statements of measurement). [So F. liste in Cotgr.]
| [1297 Magna Carta Edw. I, c. xxv, Una latitudo pannorum tinctorum, russetorum, & haubergettorum scilicet due ulne infra listas.] 1433 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 452/1 The lyste at the one ende of all soche Streite Clothes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 307/1 Lyyst of clothe, forago. 1523 Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 1 All maner of white brode wollen clothes with crumpil listes, otherwise called bastardes. 1535 Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 12 §2 Euery brode cloth shall conteine in breadth seuen quarters of a yarde within the listes at the least. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 8 For his breeches they were made of the lists of broad cloaths. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 30. 1677 W. Hubbard Narrative ii. 1 The List or Border here being known to be more worth then the whole Cloth. 1700 Tyrrell Hist. Eng. II. 716 Woollen-Cloaths that were not two Ells within the Lists, according to King Richard's [1st] late Assize, or Statute. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 186 A few threads of strong coarse yarn are placed to form the lists or selvages of the cloth. 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 396 The list is made in the West of England frequently of goats' hair. 1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. iii. 104 The tenter-hooks were driven into poles and rails, and the cloth hung on them by the ‘list’ at the edges. |
b. fig. and proverbial.
| 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet A 2 b, Yet find fault with broad termes, for I haue mesured yours with mine, & I find yours broader iust by the list. 1596 Lodge Marg. Amer. (1876) 24 Arsadachus knowing the cloth by the list, the bill by the Item, the steele by the marke [etc.]. 1622 Peacham Compl. Gent. i. (1634) 15 Which miserable ambition hath so furnished both Towne and Countrey with Coates of a new list, that [etc.]. 1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scint. ii. Garland, False joyes,..Peeces of sackcloth with silk lists. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 294 Who will reject a fine web of cloth, as one speaks, for a little coarse list at the end. |
c. In generalized use: Such selvages collectively; the material of which the selvage of cloth consists.
| 1567 Harman Caveat (Shaks. Soc.) 33 Their armes bounde up with kercher or lyste. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 62 We must..constrain the Branches of those Fig-Trees, as near as we can to the Walls,..with Nails and List. 1719 D'Urfey Pills I. 263 Sissly..Pulls off her Garter of woolen List. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. lxi. (1804) 438 A dirty rag..tied with two pieces of list. 1772 Mrs. Delany Lett. Ser. ii. I. 401, I have had list nailed round my doors, and stopping every crack and crevice that let in cold air [etc.]. 1901 Q. Rev. Apr. 483 By 1850 india-rubber had superseded list for cushions [of billiard-tables]. |
d. attrib. (quasi-adj.) = Made of list.
| 1661 Inuentarye in MS. Rawl. A. 182 lf. 311 On rugg, 2 Liste couerlids [etc.]. 1809 Jane Austen Let. 24 Jan. (1952) 257 We..could have staid longer but for the arrival of my List shoes to convey me home. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xvii. (1890) 171 Her quiet tread muffled in a list slipper. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 1121 List carpet. 1856 Dickens Dorrit (1857) i. xiii. 106 Mr. Casby rose up in his list shoes. 1866 Mrs. H. Wood St. Martin's Eve xvii. (1874) 193, I have got on list shoes, ma'am. 1901 Q. Rev. Apr. 485 List cushions were abandoned in favour of rubber. 1908 A. Bennett Old Wives' Tale iv. iii. 480 Sophia wore list slippers in the morning. It was a habit which she had formed in the Rue Lord Byron—by accident rather than with an intention to utilize list slippers for the effective supervision of servants. |
3. a. A strip of cloth or other fabric.
| a 1300 Birth Jesus 587 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 91 And bond him wiþ aliste. a 1300 Cursor M. 19845 A mikel linnen clath four squar Laten dun, him thoght was þar, At nokes four, four listes lang, Vnto þe lift þar-wit it hang. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 8 He bar a bordun I-bounde wiþ a brod lyste. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. iv. (1495) 191 Chyldrens..lymmes ben bounde wyth lystes and other couenable bondes that thei ben not crokid. c 1450 ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 122 Bynde him aboue þe brawon of þe arme wyþ a good lyste. ? a 1525 Treat. Galaunt 186 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 159 Theyr gownes and theyr cotes shredde all in lystes. 1546 T. Phaer Bk. Childr. (1553) X v b, Make a girdle of a wollen list mete for the midle of the pacient. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 69 With a linnen stock on one leg, and a kersey boot-hose on the other, gartred with a red and blew list. 1713 Swift Elegy on Partridge Wks. 1755 III. ii. 80 A list the cobler's temples ties, To keep the hair out of his eyes. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Amble, Many fold fine soft Lists about the Gambrels of the Horse. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 37 The four seams adorned with lists of a different colour from that of the cap. 1855 P. T. Barnum Life 109 Mallet had agreed..to deliver twelve yards of broadcloth ‘lists’ to Shepard. 1886 F. T. Elworthy West Somerset Word-Bk. 442 In flannels and in wool-dyed cloths it is usual to have a list or narrow border on each side of the cloth. |
| transf. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. ii. Wks. 1616 I. 246 You slaue, you list, you shreds, you—. (Beats the Tailor). 1614 ― Barth. F. iv. iv. (1631) 67 Those superstitious reliques, those lists of Latin, the very rags of Rome, and patches of Poperie. |
† b. Formerly often: A strip of cloth used for filtering or for causing a liquid to drip. Obs.
| 1593 T. Hill Art Gardening 152 Putting clothes or lists..hanging halfe out of the pan..that they may so drop continually water on them in the forme of feltring, as the wise name it. c 1623 Lodge Poor Mans Talent (1881) 12 Distill them by a filter, which is by a list, or passe them through a cloth or bagg. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xxxv. 263 We resolved, instead of a List of Cotton, or the like Filtre, to make use of a Siphon of Glass. |
4. a. A band or strip of any material; a line or band conspicuously marked on a surface. ? Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clxii. (1495) 709 A meete borde is areryd and sette vpon fete: and compassed wyth a lyste abowte. c 1575 J. Hooker Life Sir P. Carew (1857) 108 His herse was set up..with list and rail garnished with scutcheons. 1599 R. Linche Anc. Fiction M ij, A certaine white list and streake, called by the Astrologers Via lactea. 1648 Gage West Ind. xii. (1655) 57 Their shooes..the outside whereof of the profaner sort are plated with a list of silver. 1669 Boyle Contn. New Exp. i. (1682) 55 The divisions of an Inch made on a list of paper. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 413 There is a list of grass greener than ordinary, call'd St. Kenelms-furrow. 1713 Derham Phys. Theol. vii. ii. 379 A black List of Something adhering to the Rock—which he found was a great number of Swallows. 1747 Gentl. Mag. 310 Their ends [of wire] being fastened to the under parts of the boards at XX, by means of a list of tin, half inch broad, which is nailed over them. 1776 Phil. Trans. LXVII. 37, I have glued three wooden lists on the back of the board to prevent its warping. |
b. One of the divisions of a head of hair, or a beard. [? Suggested by It. lista.]
| 1859 Tennyson Vivien 242 A comb of pearl to part The lists of such a beard as youth gone out Had left in ashes. 1880 A. J. Butler Dante's Purg. i. 4 He wore his beard long and mingled with white hair, like to his locks, of which a twofold list [orig. una doppia lista] fell to his breast. |
5. a. A stripe of colour. ? Obs. (Cf. F. liste.)
| 1496 Fysshynge w. Angle (1883) 34 The body of blacke wull & a yelow lyste after eyther syde. 1530 Palsgr. 239/2 Lyste on horsebacke, raye. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1629) 273 His horse was of a firie sorrell, with blacke feete, and blacke list on his backe. 1621 Ainsworth Annot. Pentat., Exod. xxviii. 19 There are many colours [of Agate] and some the best, that are greene with a golden list. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. xi. 334 The Asse having a peculiar marke of a crosse made by a blacke list downe his backe, and another athwart. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. Pref., Painted with lists, here, naked arms behold. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) I. 319 The blue cat..having a fine blue tinge, with a beautiful red list down its back. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. II. 49 All along the back there runs a white list, which ends at the insertion of the tail. 1846 P. Parley's Ann. VII. 35 With some black about the face, and a list of the same down the hind part of the neck. |
† b. Used for: A mark of a wound, a scar. Obs. rare—1.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxi. 464 He sholde never have knowen hym, yf it had not be a lityll liste [orig. cicatrice] that he had by his right eye. |
6. Arch. † a. (See quot. 1812–16.) Obs. b. A small square moulding or ring encircling the foot of a column, between the torus below and the shaft above. (Cf. listel.)
Cf. obs. F. liste, ‘a small square out-iutting brow, or member of a piller’ (Cotgr.).
| 1663 Gerbier Counsel 32 The Freese, the List, the Ovolo. 1735 Dyche & Pardon Dict., List,..a Fillet or flat Ring that ornaments the Bottoms of Columns immediately above the Torus. 1745 Pococke Descr. East II. ii. 156 The capital consisting only of a large list or square stone, and a large quarter round under that. 1812–16 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 177 The list or spiral line of the volute runs along the face of the abacus. 1842–59 Gwilt Archit. Gloss. |
7. In various technical senses. † a. (See quot. 1688.) b. Carpentry. (? U.S.) ‘The upper rail of a railing’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875). c. Carpentry. A strip cut from the edge of a plank. (Cf. list v.3 3). d. Tin-plating. The wire of tin left on the under edge of a tinned plate, which is removed by plunging the plate into the list-pot.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 285/1 The Parts of a [Wool-] Card... The List, is that as is nailed to hold the Leaf. 1834 Holland Manuf. Metal III. 37 There is always..a list or selvage of tin on the lower edge of every plate... When the list is melted..the boy takes out the plate. |
II. Boundary.
† 8. a. A limit, bound, boundary. Often pl. Obs.
| 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 44 Any brother or sister yat duellen wyt-outen ye lystys of thre myle from ye cite. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10669 All the ledis to the listes on the laund past. Ibid. 10018. 1559 Primer in Priv. Prayers (1851) 90 The miserable captives, which as yet be hedged in within the lists of death. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 334/1 God setteth vs barres and listes. 1587 Golding De Mornay vii. (1617) 94 The Tropicks are his [the Sunnes] vttermost lists. a 1592 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 203 As though humility were the bond of all duties, like a list which holdeth men in compasse. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 295 You and I cannot bee confin'd within the weake Lyst of a Countreyes fashion. 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. i. 86, I am bound to your Neece sir: I meane she is the list of my voyage. 1638 Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. Concl. 411 To keepe my discourse within those very lists and limits which yourself have prescrib'd. 1645 Quarles Sol. Recant. vi. 60 To what strange Lists Is her conceal'd Omnipotence confin'd? |
† b. Region, territory. Obs.
| a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems 57 Whateuer foggy Mists Do blind men in these sublunary Lists. |
9. a. spec. in pl. († sometimes construed as sing.) as the equivalent of the like-sounding OF. lisse (mod.F. lice): The palisades or other barriers enclosing a space set apart for tilting; hence, a space so enclosed in which tilting-matches or tournaments were held. † Phr. in, within (the) lists. Sometimes, by extension, the arena in which bulls fight or wrestlers contend, etc. † Also (rarely) sing. in the same sense.
[The OF. lisse (see lyce, used once by Caxton), which appears to have influenced the application of the Eng. word, is of doubtful etymology; it corresponds to Sp. liza, Pg. li{cced}a, It. lizza, med.L. liciæ palisades, lists. Hatz.-Darm. suggest a late L. type *listia, f. OHG. lîsta: see above.]
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 660 Cambalo That faught in listes with the bretheren two For Canacee. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4199 Without the diche were listes made, With walles batayled large and brade. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 497 (Douce MS.) Þe lordes by-lyue hom to list ledes With many seriant of mace. 1470–85 Malory Arthur viii. xxii, Blamor..tooke his hors at the one ende of the lystes, and sire Trystram atte other ende of the lystes. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 77 To doo armes in liestis to the utteraunce. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cliv. 183 These two dukes came into the felde, all armed, in a lystes made for y⊇ sayd duke of Almayne, chalenger, and for the duke of Englande, defender. 1589 Pasquil's Return C iv b, It fareth with them, as it dooth with the Wrastler within the Lystes. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 43 On paine of death, no person be so bold..as to touch the Listes, Except the Marshall. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 497 Encountering his enemie in a List, made of purpose betweene the Campe, and Castle. 1672 Dryden Conq. Granada i. i, When the Lists set wide, Gave room to the fierce Bulls. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. lxxii, The lists are oped, the spacious area clear'd. 1813 Scott Trierm. ii. vii, A summer-day in lists shall strive My knights. 1842 Tennyson Sir Galahad i, They reel, they roll in clanging lists. |
b. transf. and fig. A place or scene of combat or contest. Phr. to enter (the) lists.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. xcix, Now is she in the very lists of love, Her champion mounted for the hot encounter. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. v. 100 As when his Trytons' trumps doe them to battell call Within his surging lists to combat with the Whale. a 1626 Bp. Andrewes 7 Serm. Wond. Combat vi. (1627) 88 The lysts where this temptation was vsed, was the Mountaine. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. iv. (1739) 9, I hold it both needless and fruitless to enter into the Lists, concerning the original of the Saxons. Ibid. lix. 116 The King, loth to enter the List with the Clergy about too many matters. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 22/2 See, Chloris, how the clouds Tilt in the azure lists. 1671 Milton Samson 463 Dagon hath presum'd, Me overthrown, to enter lists with God. 1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 110 Demodocus..Majestic to the lists of Fame repairs. 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) I. iv. 77 The Royal Society..contained few individuals..capable of..entering the lists against his..assailants. 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. iv. i. 35 [Let] the spirit Range in free battle lists. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic lxii, Slight lists Wherein the puppet-champions wage..mimic war. |
† 10. a. sing. and pl. An encircling palisade; a railed or staked enclosure. b. pl. The starting-place of a race (= L. carceres). Also sing. a racecourse or exercising ground for horses. Obs.
| 1581 Styward Mart. Discipl. i. 59 The citie, pales or lyst or fort where y⊇ campe is lodged. 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 68 All these were placed without the lists [L. extra tabulatum]. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 222 To the Lists they [horses] must not be brought to enter into any mastries there before they be full fiue yeres of age. 1644 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 101 A list to ride horses in, much frequented by the gallants in summer. 1662 H. More Philos. Writ. Pref. Gen. (1712) 12 We both setting out from the same Lists, though taking several ways,..meet together..at the same Gaol. 1737 West Let. (in verse) in Gray's Poems (1775) 19 As yet just started from the lists of time. |
III. 11. Comb.: list-boy, in Tin-plating, a boy employed to place the plates in the list-pot; list-pot, a cast-iron trough containing a small quantity of melted tin, in which the tinned plates are plunged to remove the ‘list’ (see 7 d); list-wall [cf. sense 4], a dry wall with one or more strips or bands of cemented walling.
| 1818 S. Parkes in Mem. Lit. & Phil. Soc. Manch. (1819) Ser. ii. III. 369 There is always a wire of tin on the lower edge of every plate, which is..removed..in the following manner. A boy called the *list-boy, takes the plates when they are cool enough to handle, and puts the lower edge of each..into the *list-pot. |
| 1793–1813 Reports Agric. 62 (E.D.D.) A wall-fence ‘partly dry and partly cemented with mortar, or what is commonly called a *list wall’. 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. ii. 728 The fence is what is called a list wall, alternate layers of dry wall and stone with mortar. |
▪ IV. list, n.4
(lɪst)
Also 4–5 lest(e, lyst(e.
[f. list v.2 Cf. Icel. lyst fem., appetite (for food).]
† 1. Pleasure, joy, delight. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 13078 Þa andswarede þe munec mid muchelere liste [later text mid swiþe gode wille]. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 467 So fare we alle wyth luf and lyste, To kyng & quene by cortaysye. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 132 In curteisye was set ful muche hir lest [v.r. list]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 306/2 Lyst, or lykynge,..delectacio. c 1450 Holland Howlat 755 All thus our lady thai lovit, with lyking and lyst. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xl. 197 How he suld..leaue this lyfe with list for all thair plaid. |
2. Appetite, craving; desire, longing; inclination. Const. to (with n. or inf.), rarely for, of; † frequently collocated with leisure. Now only arch.
| c 1220 Bestiary 544 He doð men hungren and hauen ðrist, and mani oðer sinful list. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1231 Hem wexon ðrist, ðe water sleckede ðe childes list. a 1300–1400 Cursor M. 24751 (Gött.) Þat gifs me list [other MSS. lust(e] of hir to rede. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 738 (787) Right a-noon as sesed is here lest, So cesseth loue and forth to loue an newe. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. lvii, Hastow no lest to sing? 1513 Douglas æneis ix. ii. 69 The wyld wolf..Rasys in ire, for the wod hungris list. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxvi. 226 The traytoure Gerard had no lyst to slepe. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 410/1 He had no leisure, and lesse lyst, to attend unto Wickliffes matters. 1575 Turberv. Faulconrie 278 It is a very good way to..kill the list and lyking of a Spar⁓hawke, to feede hir..with liquid meates washt in water. 1596 W. Smith Chloris (1877) 29 Since my disgrace I had of them no list. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ii. xv. (1614) 195 If he have list to the stoole. 1641 Milton Reform. i. Wks. 1851 III. 9, I have done it, neither out of malice, nor list to speak evill. 1659 Fuller App. Inj. Innoc. (1840) 319, I had little list or leisure to write. 1682 Bunyan Holy War 242, I thank you for all things courteous and civil, but for your cordial I have no list thereto. 1825 Scott Talism. xxvi, I have more list to my bed than to have my ears tickled. 1839 Bailey Festus viii. (1848) 84 To give a loose to all the lists of youth. 1888 P. Cushing Blacksmith of Voe III. x. 216 The divine list of sex, and the sweet ache of soul. |
3. (One's) desire or wish; (one's) good pleasure. Phrase at (one's) list. Now only arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22130 Turn þai sal til him titest, And siþen þaas other at his list. c 1400 Rom. Rose 1957 Pleyn at your list I yelde me. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 261 Honestie my olde Graundfather called that, when menne lyued by law, not lyst. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Tri. i. xxxi, Frail multitude! whose giddy law is list. 1682 Bunyan Holy War 110 He that can of list and will propound what he pleases. 1695 Hickeringill Lay-Clergy Wks. 1716 I. 326 By the Law of the Land, and not the Arbitrary list or will of any Man living. 1867 J. B. Rose tr. Virgil's æneid 26 It was a god there working his own list. |
▪ V. list, n.5
(lɪst)
Also 7–8 (Naut.) lust.
[Of obscure origin: perh. a use of list n.4]
1. Naut. The careening or inclination of a ship to one side.
| 1633 T. James Voy. 82 The Ship at low water had a great lust to the offing. 1658 Phillips, Lust of a ship. 1834 M. Scott Cruise Midge ii. (1842) 30 What a list to port she is getting! 1881 Daily News 11 Nov. 2/6 The cargo shifted giving the ship a list to port. 1883 Times 4 Jan. 8 The vessel gave a sudden list to starboard. |
2. transf. A leaning over (of a building, etc.).
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §85 The whole building had got a considerable List or leaning to the S.W. 1901 Longm. Mag. Sept. 396 Two lines of straggling fence running with all sorts of lists and bends. |
▪ VI. list, n.6
(lɪst)
[a. F. liste = Sp., Pg., It. lista; prob. identical with list n.3, the special sense being developed from that of ‘strip’ (of paper): see list n.3 4.]
a. A catalogue or roll consisting of a row or series of names, figures, words, or the like. In early use, esp. a catalogue of the names of persons engaged in the same duties or connected with the same object; spec. a catalogue of the soldiers of an army or of a particular arm; also in † phr. in or within the list(s, in list (occas. fig.).
active list, a list of those officers in the army or navy who are liable to be called upon for active service. free list, (a) a list of persons who are allowed free admission to a place of entertainment; (b) a list of articles which are exempt from duty under the revenue laws. Also army list, civil list, retired list, sick list, etc. (see the first words).
In specific senses: (a) the titles of the books (to be) published by a particular publisher. So autumn list, backlist, spring list. (b) an official register of buildings of architectural or historical importance that are statutorily protected from demolition or major alteration. Cf. list v.4 1 e. (c) In the National Health Service, a general practitioner's register of patients.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. i. 98 Young Fortinbras..Hath..Shark'd vp a List of Landlesse Resolutes. Ibid. ii. 32 The Leuies, The Lists, and full proportions are all made Out of his subiect. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. iii. vi. 76 The Thracian King Adullas..The Kings of Mede, and Licoania, With a more larger List of Scepters. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, iv. i. 14 'Tis the List Of those that claime their Offices this day. 1622 F. Markham Bk. War iv. iii. 130 Pioners..are not reckoned Souldiers, neither come neere by many degrees either to that list or reputation. 1625 Bacon Ess., Of Youth & Age (Arb.) 257 He was the Ablest Emperour, almost, of all the List. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. i. i. (1810) 3 To bee in list 3000 Foot, and 250 Horse. 1646 Evance Noble Ord. 20 You will not be out of the List long. 1653 Holcroft Procopius iv. 157 The Battalion was of eight thousand foot, and the Archers of the List. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. i. v. §10 Their Fear brought in a false List of their Enemies Number. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), List, a Scrowl of the Names of several Persons of the same Quality with whom we have Business, or with whom we have some Relation. A List of the Slain and Wounded in such a Battel. A List of such a ones Creditors. A List of the Prisoners in such a Prison. 1742 Young Nt. Th. i. 284 Endless is the list of human ills. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VII. 383/2 The letter-founders have a kind of list, or tariff, whereby they regulate their founts. 1809 Ld. Mulgrave in G. Rose's Diaries (1860) II. 358 His name being removed from the List of the Navy. 1847 Marryat Childr. N. Forest xx, Edward took a list of the contents. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. ii, She keeps a little list of her lovers. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §4. 128 The earliest classical revival restored Cæsar and Virgil to the list of monastic studies. |
| (a) 1860 G. H. Lewes Let. 4 Jan. in Geo. Eliot Lett. (1954) III. 243 It will be well now to begin announcing it in lists—if not the title at any rate the fact of a new novel being in the press. 1919 Publisher's Let. Aug. in T. S. Eliot Waste Land Drafts (1971) p. xvi, Mr. Eliot's work is no doubt brilliant, but it is not exactly the kind of material we care to add to our list. 1922 T. S. Eliot Let. 25 June in Waste Land Drafts (1971) p. xxii, Knopf said that it was too late for his autumn list this year. 1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies ii. 28, I suppose you could get the book rewritten in time for the Spring List? 1938 H. R. Dent in J. M. & H. R. Dent House of Dent xxiii. 300 It used to be said..that a publisher kept poetry on his lists more for the look of the thing than anything else. 1951 M. Sharp Lise Lilywhite xix. 161 Mr Villiers..published chiefly poetry... He had no list, in the trade sense, nor had he travellers. 1964 R. Church Voyage Home viii. 166, I should send the book to the house of Dent, whose list it would suit admirably. 1967 E. Grierson Crime of One's Own viii. 60 Christmas operated like a guillotine on the Autumn lists, leaving only a bare four weeks of selling time. |
| (b) 1947 Act 10 & 11 Geo. VI c. 51 §30 With a view to the guidance of local planning authorities..in relation to buildings of special architectural or historic interest, the Minister shall compile lists of such buildings, or approve..such lists compiled by other persons or bodies of persons. Ibid., So long as any building..is included in any list compiled or approved under this section, no person shall execute..any works for the demolition of the building or for its alteration or extension in any manner which would seriously affect its character. 1968 P. Ward Conservation & Devel. Historic Towns & Cities iii. 98 Lansdown Parade..is also a Grade II listed building on the Ministry of Housing and Local Government's list of architecturally or historically important buildings. |
| (c) 1949 Britannica Bk. of Year 412/2 Doctors starting their careers..had few patients on their lists. Ibid. 413/1 The doctor was free to accept or reject anyone applying to go on his list. 1971 Reader's Digest Family Guide to Law 242 A doctor..does not have to give reasons for his refusal to accept a patient on his list. 1974 M. Birmingham You can help Me iii. 56, I asked him if he did not sometimes hanker after..a few wealthy private patients so that he could afford to keep his list shorter. |
b. Racing slang. Short for: The list of geldings in training. Hence to put on the list = to castrate.
| 1890 Farmer Slang, Added to the List, an abbreviation of ‘added to the list of geldings in training’. |
† c. American. The return of particulars of taxable property required to be furnished by the owners. (Cf. list v.4 1 b.) Obs.
| 1646 Virginia Stat. (1823) I. 329 To the prejudice of many who have duely and according to law presented their lists. 1655 Connect. Col. Rec. (1850) I. 279 Sea-Brooke is fyned forty shillings for not sending ye Lists of theire estates to the Courte. |
d. Comb.: list-betting, betting on the list of horses displayed in a list shop; list broker, a trader in mailing lists; so list-broking vbl. n.; list house = list shop; † list-maker = lister2 2; listman, one who works in a list shop; a bookmaker; list price, the price fixed for an article in the printed list issued by the maker, or by the general body of makers of the particular class of goods; list processing Computing, the manipulation and use of chained lists and of data in them; freq. attrib.; so list processor, a processing system, language, etc., for use in list processing; cf. Lisp n.2; list shop, an illegal betting shop where prices on future important races were displayed; list system (also party list system), a system of voting, common in continental W. Europe, in which voters cast their vote for a list of candidates rather than for an individual candidate; so list vote, voting.
| 1874 Porcupine 18 July 248/2 Mr. Chaplin, M.P., with other horse-owners, have..chuckled greatly at the prospect of *list-betting no longer interfering with their speculations. 1928 Daily Express 24 Mar. 1/1 The..gaming laws..were primarily intended only to abolish notorious gaming houses and list-betting in shops and houses. |
| 1959 Economist 7 Feb. 498/1 Publishers now send out circulars to people on mailing lists, bought from a growing class of ‘*list brokers’. 1967 Guardian 27 Dec. 4/2 She is a list broker, which means that she trades in names and addresses. |
| Ibid. 4/4 The magnitude of *list-broking in the United States. 1970 Daily Tel. 12 Oct. 17/3 ‘List broking’ in this country could well develop into the sophisticated service industry it is in America. |
| 1902 ‘N. Gubbins’ Dead Certainties 71 Most of the ‘*list-houses’ (in Long Acre and elsewhere), whose name was legion, had their shutters up on the morning after Lord Zetland's horse had defeated Pitsford. |
| 1666 Connect. Col. Rec. (1852) II. 48 This Court doth order that ye land..be valued by the *list makers of Stonington. |
| 1922 Daily Mail 6 Nov. 11 Most of the *listmen got scared to death over particular animals in these final handicaps. 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 486/1 Listman, a ready-money bookmaker. |
| 1871 English Mechanic 10 Nov. 206/2 The *list price for a ½ horse-power engine is {pstlg}60. c 1883 J. Montagu Let. in Troubridge & Marshall John Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (1930) 30 Now my old machine [sc. tandem bicycle] cost {pstlg} 26 list price, and we finally got it for {pstlg}23:10s. owing to discount for ready money. 1928 Publisher's Weekly 30 June 2603 The reprint is usually about one-third of the list price of the earlier edition. 1955 Radio Times 22 Apr. 51/1 Hand in an old electric shaver..and claim {pstlg}2 allowance off the list price of a Remington 60. 1967 Autocar 28 Dec. 38/3 All ‘list’ prices are taken from Autocar's ‘Recommended New Car prices’. |
| 1959 Q. Progr. Rep. (Mass. Inst. Technol. Res. Lab. Electronics) No. 53. 122 A series of programs in *List Processing Language is being written. 1960 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery VII. 87 Statements in the language are written in usual Fortran notation, but with a large set of special list-processing functions appended to the standard Fortran library. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xix. 313 List processing, a type of non-numerical application, can be programmed in Lisp and IPL-V. 1983 Listener 10 Feb. 33/2 There is Fortran, Algol, Cobol and Jovial, along with ‘string and list processing’ languages such as Comit, Lisp and Slip. |
| 1959 *List processor [see Lisp n.2]. 1963 Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery VI. 524/1 Slip is a list processing system in which each list cell carries both a forward and a backward link as well as a datum... Slip is a descendant of at least four earlier list processors. |
| 1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 619/1 ‘*List shops’, where the proprietors kept a bank against all comers, and backers could stake their money in advance on a horse..sprung up..leading to..flagrant dishonesty. |
| [1901 T. R. & H. P. C. Ashworth Proportional Representation vii. 162 The Liste Libre, or Free List system,..applies the proportional principle not to individual candidates but to parties.] 1908 J. King Electoral Reform vii. 87 In the Party *List System the elector gives his vote for the party list, on which the candidate is enrolled, when he gives a vote to any candidate. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 115/2 In the ‘list systems’..candidates are grouped in lists. 1926 Hoag & Hallett Proportional Representation v. 60 Most of the countries which use list systems..have been successful in securing reasonable accuracy in the assignment of seats to parties. 1971 G. K. Roberts Dict. Political Analysis 115 List system, a system of election, based on proportional representation of parties or similar groups, each of which presents a list of candidates. The voter then casts his vote for one of these lists. |
| 1911 J. H. Humphreys Proportional Representation viii. 180 *List votes form a pool from which the candidates of the list draw in succession as many votes as are necessary. 1954 B. & R. North tr. M. Duverger's Pol. Parties i. i. 44 The list vote (scrutin de liste), operating within the framework of a large constituency, obliges the..local branches of the party to establish amongst themselves a strong system of articulation within the constituency, so that they can agree upon the composition of the lists. |
| Ibid. 45 Belgium, where at the end of the nineteenth century party structure was amongst the strongest in Europe: it coincided with *list-voting. 1958 W. J. M. Mackenzie Free Elections ix. 75 List voting is almost always associated with formulae for distributing seats. |
Senses a–c, d in Dict. become 1 a–c, 2 respectively. Add: 1. d. Computing. A formalized representation of a list, used as a data structure (see also linked list s.v. *linked ppl. a. 2) or in list processing (see below, sense 2).
| 1956 Newell & Simon in IRE Trans. Information Theory II. 64/1 The storage memories consist of lists. A list holds either a whole logic expression or some set of elements generated during a process, such as a set of elements having certain properties. 1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. vii. 272 Even if the list is ordered, however, we cannot use a binary search since it is scattered through memory and we cannot access its midpoint directly. 1980 C. S. French Computer Sci. x. 53 Lists provide a flexible way of handling data items in order. 1986 Practical Computing Oct. 106/1 The Card Index File module can contain up to 36 different databases, which are known as lists. |
▪ VII. list, n.7 Obs. exc. dial.
[Of obscure origin: cf. Du. lies pork-fat, G. leiste flank, groin.]
The flank (of pork); a long piece cut from the gammon.
| 1623 Markham Country Content. i. 71 Take the largest of your Chines of Porke, and that which is called a Liste. 1824 Carr Craven Dial., Lists, the flanks. |
▪ VIII. list, n.8
variant of lisse n.2 = lease n.4 Also Comb. list-stick (see quot.).
| 1782 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) IX. 6711/1 The list-sticks, to which the high-lisses are tied. The high-lisses, or lists, are a number of long threads, with platines, or plate-leads, at the bottom. |
▪ IX. list, a. Obs. exc. dial.
[app. connected with list n.1]
Ready, quick (esp. of hearing). Also applied to rooms, etc. in which one hears well.
| 1813 Cullum Suffolk Words s.v., ‘List of hearing’, quick of hearing. 1823 Galt Gilhaize II. 130 When any of his disciples were not just so list and brisk as they might have been. 1847 Halliwell s.v., A list house or room, where sounds are heard easily from one room to another. Kent. 1861 N. Brit. Rev. Nov. 325 His ear was not list to catch the distant sounds. 1863 Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. II. 185 List, quick; as list of speech. 1887 Kent. Gloss., List, the condition of the atmosphere when sounds are heard easily. ‘It's a wonderful list morning.’ |
▪ X. list, v.1 arch.
(lɪst)
Forms: 1 lystan, 3–4 leste(n, luste(n, 4–6 lyst, 5 lyste, lest, lust, 6–7 liste, 3– list. 3rd sing. pres. (contracted) 1–6 lyst, 2–6 lust, 3 Orm. lisste, 3–5 luste, 4–5 lest(e, 4–6 lyste, liste, 4–7 list. pa. tense 1–5 lyste, 2–5 leste, 3 Orm. lisste, 3–6 lust(e, 4–6 liste, lyst(e, 4–7 list, (5 leist, lest). Also 4 lysted, 5 -yd, etc., 4– listed.
[OE. lystan = OS. lustian (Du. lusten), OHG. lusten (MHG., mod.G. lüsten), ON. lysta (Sw. lysta, Da. lyste):—OTeut. *lustjan, f. *lust-us pleasure: see lust n.
It is often somewhat uncertain whether forms in lust- should be referred to this verb or to lust v.; in southern and perh. in West Midland ME. the vowel may represent either u or ü, and the examples are here placed under the one vb. or the other as the sense suggests. In other dialects of ME., and occas. in the 16th c., lust occurs in the sense of list, and with its peculiar inflexion (e.g. 3rd sing. pres. lust), and in these cases it is more convenient to regard it as an altered form of this vb., due to the influence of the n. or vb. lust, than as a special use of the latter.]
1. impers. trans. (in OE. with acc. or dat.) To be pleasing to. me list (occas. listeth): I please, choose, like, care, or desire. a. Const. inf.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 51 Hine ne lyst his willan wyrcean. c 1000 ælfric Gram. (Z.) 211 Lecturio, me lyst rædan. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 103 Þenne þan mon ne lust on his liue nan god don. c 1200 Ormin 8119 Himm lisste þa Wel etenn off an appell. c 1205 Lay. 30253 Þam kinge luste slepe. a 1300 Cursor M. 22601 Na creatur sal þan list [Trin. luste, Edin. lesten] plai. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 941 Þenne lyst þe lady to loke on þe knyȝt. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxv. (Julian) 206 My gud brethyre, quhy lest ȝou le? c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 490 The lestyth nat a louere be. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxiii. 108 Na man es forboden..to trowe in what lawe þat him list leue on. c 1440 Sir Gowther 499 Him lystyd nothyng for to play, For he was full weri. c 1450 Merlin 48, I knowe alle thinges, that me leste to wite. c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld 12 Somme whan they sholde slepe thenne hem list wake and pray. Some whan they sholde wake and pray thenne hem lust to slepe. 1584 Peele Arraignm. Paris i. ii, Me list..This idle task on me to undertake. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 35 When him list the prouder lookes subdew. a 1618 Raleigh Maxims St. (1651) 49 When it listeth him to call them to an account. 1633 P. Fletcher Poet. Misc. 64 When me list to sadder tunes apply me. 1808 Scott Marm. i. viii, When at need Him listed ease his battle-steed. |
b. Without dependent inf. (Chiefly in subordinate clauses introduced by as, if, what, when, etc.)
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiii. §2 Ne him eac næfre ᵹenoᵹ ne þincð ær he hæbbe eal þæt hine lyst. c 1205 Lay. 30741 æiþer gon liðe þider him to liste. a 1300 K. Horn 918 Nu ȝe reste One while, ef ȝou leste. c 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.) 243 Offer or leeue, wheþer þe lyst. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 519 Wemen..can wet thair chekys, quhen thaim list, with teris. 14.. Nun 298 in E.E.P. (1862) 146 There we talkeden as vs lest. 1526 Tindale Matt. xx. 15 Ys yt not lawfull ffor me to do as me listeth with myne awne. a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. ii. (Arb.) 43 Let hym come when hym lust. 1581 Savile Tacitus' Agric. (1622) 191 Licence to do what them listed. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 518 This proud Antiochus shall doe what him listeth. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Aug. xvii, Thy mortal life is but a brittle vase, But as thee list with wine or tears to fill. |
¶ With ellipsis of go.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 87 To þe holy land him list, & þider gan him spede. |
† c. Const. of (= OE. gen.), after.
| a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xxvi. 71 Hi for ðæm yrmðum eardes lyste. c 1200 Ormin 11334 Whanne hiss fasste forþedd wass Þa lisste himm affterr fode. a 1352 Minot Poems (Hall) i. 71 No thing list þam þan of play. c 1400 Destr. Troy Prol. 20 He..has lykyng to lerne þat hym list after. |
2. With personal construction. a. Const. inf.: To desire, like, wish to do something.
| 1340–70 Alisaunder 776 Þe Ladie lay on hur bed & lysted too slepe. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xix. 209 Thei bryngen up als many as men list to have. a 1510 Douglas K. Hart 124 Quhen [that] hir court leist semble fair and clein. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 13/2 He either wist not, or list not to shew his cunning therein. 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. (1599) A 4 b, I list not boast in acts of Chiualrie. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. v. 177 If we list to speake. 1613 Jackson Creed i. xx. §5 Points he listed not meddle withall. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 75 If they list to try Conjecture. 1687 G. Towerson Baptism 149, I list not to contend about anything, of which I myself am not more strongly perswaded. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iii. xx, If you list to taste our cheer. Ibid. xxiii, We little listed think of him. |
b. Without dependent inf.: To wish, desire, like, choose. (Chiefly in subordinate clauses, as in 1 b.)
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 13 After ðan ðe here herte leste, ic hem folȝede. c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 352 Þy wyl be ydo, ryȝt as þou lest. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas viii. v. (1558) 4 All worldly thynges chaungyng as she lust. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 3 To that entent that who so luste may kepe hem from harme. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 123 Deyme as yhe lest, ye that best can and may. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxii. 7 They do euen what they lyst. 1563 Homilies ii. Agst. Idolatry ii. (1859) 209 The Bishop of Rome..did in all the West Church..what he lust. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1629) 199 Your griefes, and desires whatsoeuer and whensoeuer you list, he will consider of. Ibid. iii. 260 He might returne if he listed. 1611 Bible John iii. 8 The winde bloweth where it listeth. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle iv. 1441 Thou mayst make sale of it to whom thou list. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. 60 By his Musick he could drive men into what Affections he listed. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xxvii. 42 Let them think what they list. 1823 Scott Peveril v, We will, if your ladyship lists, leave him. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiv. 348 The invaders landed and harried where they listed. |
† c. to list of: to care for. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1791 Þe leuedis listed [Fairf. list] noght o pride. c 1400 Melayne 1254 One þ⊇ lawnde righte þer þay lay..And liste no thynge of playe. 14.. Women's Horns in Rel. Ant. I. 80 They have despit, and ageyn concyence, Lyst nat of pryde, then hornes cast away. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1744 Þe shipmen of na lykyng lyste. |
† 3. trans. To desire or wish for (something).
| 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 59 And seinge also they haue libertie to lyste what they will, I pray God they haue will to list that which is good. 1587 Golding De Mornay v. 55 By our listing of a thing, we may perceiue some alteration in our selues; but the thing it selfe that is listed or willed feeleth nothing thereof. |
▪ XI. list, v.2 arch.
(lɪst)
Forms: 1 hlystan, 2–3 lusten, 2–5 luste, 3 lhisten, (h)listen, hleste(n, lheste, 3–6 liste, lest(e, 4–5 lyst, (5 lyston, -yn, listyn), 4– list.
[OE. hlystan, f. hlyst list n.1 (Cf. mod.Icel. hlusta.)]
1. intr. = listen v. 2.
| c 1000 Instit. Polity §5 in Thorpe Anc. Laws (1840) II. 310 Hlystaþ hwæt ic secge. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 141 Lusteð nu þanne, and undernimeð þreo þing. Ibid. 185 Eie ne maig swo muchel biholden, ne ere lhisten ne herte þenchen. a 1250 Owl & Night. 263 Bo nu stille, and lat me speke,..And lust hu ich con me bi-telle. a 1300 K. Horn 355 Lust whi [Harl. MS. list were fore] ihc wonde Bringe þe horn to honde. a 1300–1400 Cursor M. 20399 (Gött.) Listes all i ȝu biseke i-wiss. 1549 Latimer Serm. on Ploughers (Arb.) 29 But nowe I thynke I se you lysting and hearkening, that I shoulde name him. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon xi. (1630) G, List how they rumble. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. iii. 12 Peace, what noise? 1 [Sol.] List, list. 2 [Sol.] Hearke. 1637 Milton Comus 480 List, list, I hear Som far off hallow break the silent Air. 1765 H. Walpole Otranto v. (1798) 89 List, sirs, and may this bloody record be a warning to future tyrants. 1808 Scott Marm. ii. xxxiii, The stag..Spread his broad nostril to the wind, Listed before, aside, behind. 1847 Emerson Poems (1857) 12 Great Napoleon Stops his horse, and lists with delight. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lv. 1 List, I beg, provided you're in humour. |
b. Const. to, unto, till; in OE. dat. and gen.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xlix. 385 Ða fundon hie hiene..hlystende hiora worda. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xvi. 29 Hiᵹ hlyston him. c 1200 Ormin 7846 Þatt he Ne lisste nohht wiþþ ære Till naness kinness idellleȝȝc. a 1300 Cursor M. 13833 Ne till vr laghes will he noght list. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 4002 Now lysteþ to þis spelle. c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta i. ii. (1633) C 2, Graue Gouernors, list not to his exclames. 1791 Cowper Iliad vii. 54 Wilt then list to me? 1813 Scott Rokeby i. i, The warder..Lists to the breeze's boding sound. 1884 Browning Ferishtah, Family 22 List to a tale. |
2. trans. To listen to, hear; = listen v. 1.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 63 [He] þe luste nulleð þesne red. c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 67 Hlest hwat se heiȝeste ðe seið. c 1200 Ormin 9017 To lisstenn whatt te preost ȝuw seȝȝþ Off ȝure sawle nede. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 35 Hie openeden his earen to luste þe defles lore. a 1300 Cursor M. 20590 Listes þe bon þat scho him badd. a 1300 K. Horn 505 ‘Kyng’, he sede, ‘þu leste [Laud MS. wiltu luste] A tale mid þe beste’. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5083 So is it wit, a wiseman his wordis to listyn. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 46 Elues, list your names. 1642 T. Hill Trade of Truth Ep. Ded., I put it into your Honourable Protection, who have listed it [a sermon]. 1775 Sheridan Rivals Epil., But ere the battle should he list her cries, The lover trembles—and the hero dies! 1813 Scott Rokeby iii. xvii, I list no more the tuck of drum. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 178, I..list the drone of heavy humble-bees. 1896 A. E. Housman Shropsh. Lad iii, And you will list the bugle That blows in lands of morn. |
▪ XII. list, v.3
(lɪst)
[f. list n.3; cf. OF. lister (one example in Godef.) to put a list on (cloth); also It. listare, G. leisten, Du. lijsten.]
† 1. trans. To put a list, border, or edge round (an object); to border, edge. Also, to put as a list or border upon. Obs.
| 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) xciii. (1887) 454 A targe listed wiþ gold. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. xciv. (1869) 51 The scrippe was of greene selk,..Lysted it was wel queyntliche with xii belles of siluer. 1530 Palsgr. 612/2, I lyste a garment, or border it rounde about with a lyst..I have lysted my cote within to make it laste better. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Lisier, to list or border any thing. 1624 Wotton Archit. in Reliq. (1651) 297 A long straight mossie walk..listed on both sides with an Aquæduct of white stone. a 1639 ― Dk. Buckhm. ibid. 80 Such an Accumulation of benefits, like a kind of Embroidering or listing of one favour upon another. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) I. i. 2 Trite and trivial phrases..listed with pedantic shreds of School-boy verses. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. vi. Wks. (1847) 553/1 A Danish curtaxe, listed with gold or silver. 1703 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1451 The edges [of a fern leaf] are listed with Seed. |
b. To fix list upon the edge of (a door).
| 1860 Worcester, List..5. To fix list, or a strip of cloth, to; as, ‘To list a door’. 1881 R. T. Cooke Somebody's Neighbors 64 Monsieur Leclerc..listed the doors against approaching winter breezes. |
† 2. To enclose; to shut in with rails or the like.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 463 [He] kepte his daye appoynted for that batayll, in a felde called in Frenshe Lapre Aux Clers, where for theim was ordeyned a place lyestyd and closed in goodly wyse. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. i. 109 Upon the other thre quarters, it [Asie] is lysted in with the Occean. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Cauea,..euery place listed or rayled in. |
† b. To bound, limit. Obs.
| a 1600 Hooker Eccl. Pol. vii. viii. §4 The local compass of a bishop's authority and power was never so straitly listed, as some men would have the world imagine. |
3. Carpentry. To cut away the sappy edge of a board; to shape a block or stave by chopping.
| 1635 Plymouth Col. Rec. (1855) I. 34 Sawne bords..cut sharp at ye tope, and either listed or shote with a plaine. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. Gloss., Listing, the act of cutting away the sap-wood from one or both edges of a board. 1874 Skyring's Builders' Prices 22 Floors..For each edge listed, add os. 2d. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. |
4. Agric. To prepare (the land) for the crop (of cotton or Indian corn) by making ridges and furrows with the plough or beds and alleys with the hoe. local U.S.
| 1785 Washington Writ. (1891) XII. 224 Some of it..had been twice ploughed, then listed, then twice harrowed before sowing. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 432 Boys and girls, ‘listing’ an old corn-field with hoes. |
▪ XIII. list, v.4
(lɪst)
[f. list n.6
In senses 3 and 4 the word is now taken chiefly as an aphetic form of enlist, and written 'list.]
1. a. trans. To set down together in a list; to make a list of; to catalogue, register.
| 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iv. i. §1 (1634) 457 These kings were of the nation of Argives who are listed as followeth. 1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scint., Rules & Lessons xx, When night comes, list thy deeds. 1712 Official Notice in Lond. Gaz. No. 4994/3 The Persons bringing the said Tickets, are desired to List the same in a Numerical Order, and to write in their List the Name. 1861 E. O'Curry Lect. MS. Materials 271 Of the Forbasa listed in the Book of Leinster there is one more so remarkable, that [etc.]. 1887 Athenæum 6 Aug. 171/2 About one hundred species of butterflies have been listed. |
b. To set down or enter in a special, formal, or official list (e.g. of persons or property for assessment, of stocks, etc.); U.S. to enter or register for taxation.
| 1658 Virginia Stat. (1823) I. 454 All negroes imported..and Indian servants..being sixteen years of age, to be listed and pay leavies as aforesaid. 1666 Plymouth Col. Rec. (1855) IV. 136 Incase they be not accomodated with land amongst them with whom they are listed neare the Bay line. 1687 Rycaut Contn. Knolles' Hist. Turks II. 223 There were listed fifty-five thousand, who paid duties of Harach. 1702 Hawick Kirk Session Rec. 4 Oct., The Minister..desired such as intended to communicate to list themselves this week. 1787 M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 324 Spent the day in listing my money for Congress. 1877 Burroughs Taxation 214 Assessors are to list such lands only as are situate [etc.]. 1881 Daily News 1 Nov. 5/7 Only seven cases were listed for to-day. 1893 Times 14 July 4/1 The shrinkage in the value of American securities ‘listed’ in this market. |
c. U.S. To place (a property) in the hands of a real-estate agent for sale or rent; to add to the list of properties advertised by a real-estate agent. Cf. listing vbl. n.2 3.
| 1906 W. A. Carney Real Estate Business v. 20 A real estate broker..should have listed considerable property. Ibid. 21 He can sometimes list a real bargain. 1908 Amer. Real Estate Seller July 2 Every real estate dealer should have a form contract and use it. He should not list a property that he has not a contract on. 1909 Ibid. Aug. 6 The real estate dealers should combine and pass a resolution to list property exclusively. 1911 National Realty Jrnl. Mar. 14/2 The land owner, the investor, will also find it to his interest to recognize an active agent and list property with him. 1921 J. B. Spilker Real Estate Business v. 25 Only those properties which in the mind of the sales manager are saleable, and only those properties which are secured at a fair price and reasonable to both the buyer and seller, should be listed for sale. 1945 G. H. Beurhaus Who handles your Real Estate? (rev. ed.) vi. 19 The broker..proceeds to list property. 1972 J. L. Gale Listing Real Estate p. xix, Once we learn the ground rules for listing residences, we can then go on and successfully list property of any kind. |
d. To enter (a name and address) in a telephone directory.
| 1959 R. Stout Crime & Again 91 ‘I'll see if she's listed.’ I went to my desk for the Manhattan phone book. 1971 Post Office Telephone Directory Section 101: London Postal Area 12/1 A special Greater London Business directory has been introduced, listing certain businesses within about thirty miles of Charing Cross. |
e. To protect (a building, etc.) by placing it on a statutory preservation register. Cf. list n.6 a (b).
| 1968 Act Eliz. II c. 72 §52 A building which, immediately before the date of the compulsory purchase order, was listed. Ibid. §54 Matters which may be taken into account by the Minister in listing buildings. 1972 E. Lemarchand Cyanide with Compliments vi. 74 The lovely little seventeenth-century timber-framed house... It's recently been listed. Ibid. xiii. 170 Some local preservation enthusiasts succeeded in getting the house listed as of architectural and historic interest. 1973 Daily Tel. 24 Mar. 14/6 Church House..was listed on Feb. 27 because of its architectural or historic merit. But workmen knocked a hole through the front wall on Tuesday. |
† 2. To comprise in a list or catalogue; to enrol (among, in, into a certain number, under a certain head); to include or enrol in the number or membership of; to put in the same category with. Obs.
| 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 142 He that..desires to be listed into the rolle of those that haue gotten greatest fame. 1637 Massinger Address to Shirley on his ‘Grateful Servant’, My obscure name, Listed with theirs, who here advance thy fame. 1649 Milton Eikon. xxiv. Wks. 1851 III. 489 What are Chaplains? In State perhaps they may be listed among the upper Servingmen of som great houshold. 1668 Pepys Diary 5 Feb., The persons therein concerned to be listed of this or that Church. 1675 Traherne Chr. Ethics To Rdr., Vertues are listed in the rank of invisible things. 1704 Swift T. Tub Wks. 1768 I. 51 It is under this class I have presumed to list my present treatise. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xxii. 274 All Trades and Occupations being listed into Tribes; none can marry out of their own Tribe. 1777 Sir A. Dick Let. to Johnson 17 Feb. in Boswell Johnson, I have..listed Dr. Samuel Johnson in some of my memorandums..under a name which [etc.]. |
3. a. To enter on the list of a military body; to appoint formally (an officer); also in pass. with compl., to be appointed or ‘gazetted’ as (captain, etc.). In later use only in narrower sense, to enrol (private soldiers), to receive as recruits; = enlist v. 1.
| 1643 Declar. Comm., Reb. Irel. 28 The Parliament..had made choice of, and listed all the Commanders..for that Expedition. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. §55 Some troops of those who had been listed by them under good officers. 1648 Eikon Bas. ix. 61 What Tumults could not do, an Army must, which is but Tumults listed. 1653 Shirley Crt. Secret iv. 47, I was listed Captain, before some The Generall knew had been seven years in service. 1706 Farquhar Recruiting Officer i. i, I don't beat up for common soldiers; no, I list only grenadiers. 1736 Bolingbroke Patriot. (1749) 26 Looking on themselves like volunteers, not like men listed in the service. 1795–7 Southey Juvenile & Min. Poems Poet. Wks. II. 82, I was trapp'd by the Sergeant's palavering pretences, He listed me when I was out of my senses. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1668 W. Penn No Cross No Cr. Wks. 1782 II. 96 Last of all, it lists thee of the company of..Jesus; to fight under his banner. 1701 Swift Contests Nobles & Comm. Wks. 1755 II. i. 50 He is listed in a party, where he neither knows the temper, nor designs, nor perhaps the person of his leader. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ii. 9 He that is born, is listed; life is war. 1750 Chesterfield Lett. 5 Feb. (1792) II. ccxvi. 332 You are but just listed in the world, and must be active, diligent, indefatigable. 1776 Bentham Fragm. Govt. Wks. 1843 I. 288 Men whose affections are already listed against the law in question. 1882 J. Walker Jaunt to Auld Reekie 88 Farmer-folks in politics Wi' Tory lairds are listed. |
4. a. refl. and intr. (for refl.) To have one's name entered upon the list of a military body; to engage for military service; = enlist v. 4. Phr. to list (oneself) a soldier or for a soldier.
| 1643 Declar. Comm., Reb. Irel. 62 Who..have lysted themselves in the Lord Dillons Troupe. c 1665 Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 162 Secure yourself in some other parliament garrisons, or list into the castle. 1675 tr. Machiavelli's Prince viii. (Rtldg. 1883) 57 In his youth [he] listed a soldier. 1702 Sedley Grumbler iii. i. Wks. (1766) 233 Catau. Brillon has listed himself a solider. Grichard. Listed himself a soldier! Catau. Yes, Sir, listed to go to the war. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 89 ¶6 A Drum passing by,..I listed myself for a Soldier. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 414 If any officer and soldier..shall desert, or list in any other regiment. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) II. ix. 138 Whether a thoroughly upright and enlightened man would rather have listed under the royal or parliamentary standard. 1893 Stevenson Catriona 164 He listed at last for a sodger. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1650 Fuller Pisgah i. vii. 19 They lost their names by listing themselves under some other people. 1658 Whole Duty of Man, Private Devotions (1684) 173 Having now anew listed my self under his banner. 1694 Dryden Love Triumph. iv. i, You..who are listing yourself into the honourable company of cuckolds. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 98 Passions, though selfish, if their means be fair, List under Reason. 1738 Wesley Psalms ii. ii, The Rulers list themselves his Foes. 1791 Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 254 To list themselves, and even to take a lead, with the party which they think most likely to prevail. a 1845 Hood Irish Schoolm. xvii, When first the scholar lists in learning's train. 1845 Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) I. 3 Merely that they [M.P.'s] may list under party banners. |
Add: [1.] f. intr. Of goods: to be catalogued or advertised for sale at or for a price. orig. U.S.
| [1935 Industr. Equipment News Apr. 34/2 Polishing machine... Prices list from $91 to $191.] 1952 Automobile Topics Jan. 1 Aero Wing, Super deluxe two-door sedan, lists at $1,903.50. a 1961 Industr. Equipment News in Webster s.v., The wrench alone lists at $3. 1974 Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer 19 Oct. 3-d (Advt.), They list for $300 to $500 less than comparable '75's. 1987 Stamps Feb. 23/2 The item..lists in Stanley Gibbons at {pstlg}8,500 in used condition and is unpriced as unused. 1994 J. Barth Once upon Time 32 Maryland waterfront real-estate values have so escalated that those homely, often cheek-by-jowl stock items may list for half a million. |
g. trans. Computing. To display or print out (a program, the contents of a file, etc.); to produce a listing of. Also, to transmit (a program or file) to a peripheral where it can be displayed or printed.
| 1958 [implied in *listing vbl. n.2 5]. 1962 Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 93 List,..to print every relevant item of input data on the general basis of one line of print per card. 1979 P. J. Brown Writing Interactive Compilers & Interpreters ii. 46 A further feature of interactive working that differentiates it from batch working is that a typical user will frequently want to list all or part of his program, especially if he has been doing a lot of editing. 1984 Creative Computing June 182/2 Now we have a resource of 167 article citations, dealing with various aspects of computer crime that we can list. 1986 ZX Computing Monthly Oct. 74/3 In LISTing the program to its network port, the Spectrum collects 256 bytes in a buffer first; only when the buffer is full is the data sent down the line. |
▪ XIV. list, v.5 Naut.
(lɪst)
Also 7–8 lust.
[f. list n.5]
intr. Of a ship: To careen, heel, or incline to one side. Also with off.
| 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Sea-men 29 Cun the ship spoune before the winde, she lusts, she lyes vnder the Sea. c 1740 A. Allen MS. Dict. s.v. Lust, Mariners say the Ship lusteth, when she leans to one side rather than to another. 1880 Times 6 Aug. 5/3 When heavily laden she..had a tendency to list, and righted herself with difficulty. Ibid. 17 Dec. 5/6 She was moored outside the dock but listed off, and makes a good deal of water. 1885 Century Mag. XXIX. 742 She listed to port and filled rapidly. |
Add: Also transf. and fig. (of an object or animal, or joc. of a person).
| 1929 E. Bowen Shoes in Joining Charles 40 The female shoes, uncertainly balanced because of their high heels, listed towards the strong shoes of Edward timidly and lackadaisically. 1943 Horizon VIII. 156 The crazy dunikins, outside w.c.s listing away from the prevailing wind. 1969 M. Bragg Hired Man i. vii. 70 The weaker horse listed over to the stronger at the slightest relaxation of the biased hold. 1985 M. Gordon Men & Angels v. 79 She listed like a heavy ship. |